Andy

I've been trying to for months, but the media, as well as at least one friend of mine, simply won't hear of it. The SEC is the best conference this year but it's not a runaway. Florida struggled with Bowling Green AND UL Lafayette, LSU struggled with Towson and their only "impressive" win is Florida, Mississippi State has been rolled by the only three teams they've played that could even be described as decent, Georgia also counts Florida as their only really impressive win, and hell, even Alabama is currently 1-1 against the teams they've played that will be ranked tomorrow. And they're the only conference that literally does not leave their conference footprint to play a game, ever (save the occasional Vanderbilt/Northwestern game). It drives me batty. I know it feels like UF has at least 2 losses, but they don't. Yes the SEC is overrated, but you can usually count on the SEC Champ being very good and well tested. In this system that's all you need for conference dominance. I screwed up on that one. Whoops.

I've been trying to for months, but the media, as well as at least one friend of mine, simply won't hear of it. The SEC is the best conference this year but it's not a runaway. Florida struggled with Bowling Green AND UL Lafayette, LSU struggled with Towson and their only "impressive" win is Florida, Mississippi State has been rolled by the only three teams they've played that could even be described as decent, Georgia also counts Florida as their only really impressive win, and hell, even Alabama is currently 1-1 against the teams they've played that will be ranked tomorrow. And they're the only conference that literally does not leave their conference footprint to play a game, ever (save the occasional Vanderbilt/Northwestern game). It drives me batty.

The BCS says "Every Game Matters" and then announced that Every Game Mattered except for the LSU/Bama regular-season game last year. Alabama was better than Oklahoma State and proved it in the title game, but if you say Every Game Matters, mean it. That was my issue. It still is, actually. Notre Dame is playing a better schedule than Kansas State this year, but it's hard to argue too hard in their favor because of the Pitt and Purdue games. I'd be upset if they got left out at 12-0 but I'd have a hard time saying it was undeserved.

It's too bad there are so many rogue people at USC cheating right under Lane Kiffin's completely-unaware nose. Such a tough break for him.

Excellent win for Ball State tonight.

yeah, who knows how that will play out. but he's in town Sunday/Monday to talk about the pre-med program. Did UM lose 2 recruits this week? I saw a rumor today about another one. Anzalone reaffirms commitment to ND. Hope it sticks. If that safety Redfield switches to ND as is rumored, hard to evaluate the class of '13 as anything but a home run. It's probably a home run already.

I want to know what the context of the conversation was that lead him to discuss the FA market in 2015. I could be wrong, but I think 2014 is the final year of the current WGN/CSN TV deal, which would explain why he's bringing 2015 up.

I don't know anything about him, really, but as a Ball State alum I've been very impressed with his work. Purdue could certainly do worse.

Mississippi State's wins: Jacksonville St, Auburn, Troy, S. Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee & Middle Tennessee. At least NW was competitive in its losses.

Top 25 games ------------------------ (15) Texas A&M at (1) Alabama (3:30 pm, CBS) (2) Kansas State at TCU (7 pm, FOX) (3) Oregon at California (10:30 pm, ESPN) (4) Notre Dame at Boston College (8 pm, ABC) (5) Georgia at Auburn (7 pm, ESPN2) UL Lafayette at (6) Florida (12:20 pm, SEC Network/ESPN3) (21) Mississippi State at (7) LSU (7 pm, ESPN) Arkansas at (8) South Carolina (12 pm, CBS) (9) Louisville at Syracuse (12 pm, ABC – Regional) (10) Florida State at Virginia Tech (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN) (11) Oregon State at (14) Stanford (3 pm, FOX) Baylor at (12) Oklahoma (3:30 pm, FSN) Maryland at (13) Clemson (3:30 pm, ESPNU) Penn State at (16) Nebraska (3:30 pm, ABC/ESPN2) Iowa State at (17) Texas (12 pm, Longhorn Network) (18) UCLA at Washington State (10:30 pm, ESPN2) Arizona State at (19) USC (3 pm, Pac-12 Network) (20) Louisiana Tech at Texas State (7 pm, Longhorn Network) Kansas at (22) Texas Tech (12 pm, FSN) Army at (23) Rutgers (12 pm, ESPNU) (24) Northwestern at Michigan (12 pm, ESPN) Ball State at (25) Toledo (8 pm Tuesday, ESPN2) Other nationally available games --------------------------------------- Bowling Green at Ohio (8 pm Wednesday, ESPN2) UL Monroe at Arkansas State (7 pm, Thursday, ESPNU) Pittsburgh at UConn (8 pm Friday, ESPN2) Wisconsin at Indiana (12 pm, ESPN2) Purdue at Iowa (12 pm, BTN) Miami at Virginia (12 pm, ABC – Regional) Cincinnati at Temple (12 pm, SNY/ESPN3) Missouri at Tennessee (12:20 pm, SEC Network/ESPN3) Georgia Tech at North Carolina (12:30 pm, ACC Network/ESPN3) Florida Atlantic at Western Kentucky (1 pm, ESPN3) Kent State at Miami (OH) (1 pm, ESPN3) Colorado at Arizona (1:30 pm, FX) Wake Forest at NC State (3 pm, FSN South/ESPN3) Minnesota at Illinois (3:30 pm, BTN) West Virginia at Oklahoma State (3:30 pm, ABC/ESPN2) Air Force at San Diego State (3:30 pm, NBC Sports) Navy at Troy (3:30 pm, ESPN3) Tulsa at Houston (5 pm, CBS Sports) Boise State at Hawaii (7 pm, NBC Sports) Vanderbilt at Ole Miss (7 pm, ESPNU) Southern Miss at SMU (7 pm, FSN) Idaho at BYU (10:15 pm, ESPNU) Fresno State at Nevada (10:30 pm, NBC Sports) Utah at Washington (10:30 pm, Pac-12 Network)

If RedFlash was still around, I'm sure we'd have a couple more pages on Alabama. Without him and Meph, the SEC discussion around here is certainly more muted than it once was. I was at the ND game today and have no voice left. I'm quite certain that this football team is going to kill me.

Man, two gigantic games involving Oregon and Bama, one of which came down to the last minute, and half the thread is about Notre Dame/Pittsburgh.

They won't sign Haren, though, since some pitching-desperate team will pay more than the Cubs want to.

By definition, every team in baseball makes 'plenty of moves'. You need them to fill out a roster.

I have no idea what that means, but [expletive] this [expletive] is depressing. are there any other sports you've ever wanted to try to pick up? this is the best time for it ever. there's absolutely no reason to pay attention to the cubs next year. even the "young guys" who will be around won't be the young guys who are interesting when we're good again. the only reasons to watch are to confirm that brett jackson can't be a real major league hitter and to make sure starlin castro and anthony rizzo don't get hit in the face by a line drive and die. i don't really understand why you're assuming we won't make any noteworthy acquisitions Other than Theo and Jed are basically telling us that we won't?

UCLA went to a bowl game last year at 6-7, so I would assume such a scenario wouldn't preclude IU from going to the Rose Bowl. That would be absolutely hilarious - unfortunately there's no chance of it happening.

That's absolutely true.. For example, when Colts-Patriots was getting huge ratings, in 2005 they were on Monday Night football on ABC. The next year MNF and SNF had switched, and that game was on NBC the next 3 times they played at night on SNF. ESPN has always gotten the lesser priority of matchups whether they were broadcasting SNF or MNF. Which is funny because ESPN pays like twice as much for the MNF rights as NBC does for SNF.

As long as Brian Kelly doesn't break out neon green jerseys like the last coach to have us at 8-0 entering a home game against a clearly inferior Big East team did, I think ND should be ok.

I'm so glad Rivera is getting exposed as the chicken [expletive] he is. 1-11 in games decided by 8 points or less. Absolutely pathetic. He's gone at the end of the year and maybe before then.

Affliction t-shirts for everybody!!!

Florida would have a shot if Georgia lost again, because they then would play in the SEC title game. Minor miracle if UGA loses to either Ole Miss or Auburn. Good call. I hadn't looked at their remaining schedule.

Florida would have a shot if Georgia lost again, because they then would play in the SEC title game.

Top 25 games ------------------------ (1) Alabama at (5) LSU (8 pm, CBS) (24) Oklahoma State at (2) Kansas State (8 pm, ABC) Pittsburgh at (3) Notre Dame (3:30 pm, NBC) (4) Oregon at (17) USC (7 pm, FOX) Ole Miss at (6) Georgia (3:30 pm, CBS) Illinois at (6*) Ohio State (3:30 pm, ESPN) Missouri at (7) Florida (12 pm, ESPN2) Temple at (10) Louisville (12 pm, ABC - Regional) Arizona State at (11) Oregon State (10:30 pm, ESPN2) (12) Oklahoma at Iowa State (12 pm, ABC – Regional) (13) Clemson at Duke (7 pm, ESPN2) (14) Stanford at Colorado (2 pm, FX) (16) Texas A&M at (15) Mississippi State (12 pm, ESPN) (23) Texas at (18) Texas Tech (3:30 pm, ABC/ESPN2) San Diego State at (19) Boise State (10:30 pm, CBS Sports) (20) Nebraska at Michigan State (3:30 pm, ABC/ESPN2) TCU at (21) West Virginia (3 pm, FOX) (22) Arizona at UCLA (10:30 pm, Pac-12 Network) Texas-San Antonio at (25) Louisiana Tech (4 pm, ESPN3) * Denotes AP ranking, ineligible for BCS Other nationally available games --------------------------------------- Eastern Michigan at Ohio (6 pm Thursday, ESPNU) Virginia Tech at Miami (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN) Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (9:15 pm Thursday, ESPNU) Washington at California (9 pm Friday, ESPN2) Michigan at Minnesota (12 pm, BTN) Houston at East Carolina (12 pm, FSN) Air Force at Army (12 pm, CBS Sports) Vanderbilt at Kentucky (12 pm, ESPNU) Troy at Tennessee (12 pm, FSN South/ESPN3) Syracuse at Cincinnati (12 pm, SNY/ESPN3) Tulsa at Arkansas (12:20 pm, SEC Network/ESPN3) Georgia Tech at Maryland (12:30 pm, ACC Network/ESPN3) New Mexico State at Auburn (12:30 pm, CSN South/ESPN3) Virginia at NC State (12:30 pm, ACC Network/ESPN3) Western Michigan at Central Michigan (1 pm, ESPN3) Akron at Kent State (2 pm, STO/ESPN3) Washington State at Utah (3 pm, Pac-12 Network) Iowa at Indiana (3:30 pm, BTN) Florida Atlantic at Navy (3:30 pm, CBS Sports) Penn State at Purdue (3:30 pm, ESPNU) Kansas at Baylor (3:30 pm, FSN) Boston College at Wake Forest (3:30 pm, FSN South/ESPN3) UL Lafayette at UL Monroe (4 pm, ESPN3) SMU at Central Florida (7 pm, CBS Sports) UConn at South Florida (7 pm, ESPNU)

Because they beat a South Carolina team who's so good that they gave up 35 points to Tennessee. Apart from Alabama, the SEC is very overrated this year.

They shouldn't but they probably would. SEC rules all and all that. It's an elementary question though, because LSU's not that great and Bama's probably going to smear them.